Two recurring themes of achievers are mentioned in the first few pages of this book, the importance of toughminded optimism and the power of persistence. It is in that spirit that Gardner develops his topic. With the inevitability of change, openness to new experience is vital to self-renewal he claims. Being active in intentional change leads to growth rather than change by default he explains. Knowing how to creatively interact with changes in the environment is a learned ability that can lead to the development of new potentialities Gardner writes.
This interactive process is experienced at the individual level also. Gardner describes healthy self-renewing people as those who both give and accept love. They depend on other people and are capable of having other people depend on them.
Passion is part of the self-renewed life. He says people of that bent know they must have conviction about what they are doing and if they don't, they need to find something they can have conviction about.
The principles he describes at the individual level have implications collectively as well. He goes on to state that "it is important that a society create an atmostphere that encourages effort, striving and vigorous performance" (p. 20). It is within social systems that individuals make their contributions. A lot of wise insight is provided in this book. He leaves the readers better off than when they picked up the book to read.

What a terrific book! What amazes me most is that this book was written over thirty years ago and still has so much to say to people today. A basic breakdown of the book is this: organizations and individuals must use innovation as a way of preserving and renewing their institutions. If one chooses status quo as a preservation method, one will do the exact opposite one intended: the institution will rot, not thrive. This book is great material for any leader who wants to understand the dynamics of change and the type of obstacles one will have to overcome if one wants to lead innovation.

A deeply perceptive (short) paperback on the self-renewal of individuals and societies; why some decay and others remain innovative and creative. Now in his 90th year, Mr. Gardner continues to teach at Stanford. In clear, concise terms the author sets down the factors that produce deterioration in people and societies. He maintains they are caused mostly by failure to deal with change. The factors? He names five.

SELF-DEVELOPMENT. Not just skills, but the whole range of our own potentialities for sensing, wondering, learning, understanding and aspiring. Gardner points out that this does not happen until one gets over the odd notion that education is what goes on in school buildings and nowhere else.

SELF-KNOWLEDGE. By midlife we are accomplished fugitives from ourselves. Our lives are filled with diversions; our heads stuffed with knowledge; we are involved with people. Result: we've never taken time to probe our inner selves. We don't want to know ourselves. We don't want to depend upon ourselves. We can't stand to live with ourselves. A better way is to develop a more comfortable view of who you are. It is the true basis of inner strength.

COURAGE TO FAIL. By the time we reach middle age, we carry in our heads a long list of things we'll never try again because we tried once and failed. Mature people learn less because they are willing to risk less. There's no learning without difficulty and fumbling, but if you want to keep on learning, you must keep risking failure.

LOVE. Develop the ability to have mutually fruitful relations with others. Be capable of accepting love and giving it; of depending upon others and of being depended upon. Develop the ability to see life through another's eyes and reach out to others.

MOTIVATION. A self-renewing person is highly motivated. The author points out that motivation isn't a fuel that gets injected into your system (motivation speakers won't do it); it's partly inner energy and partly the result of the social forces in your life. Gardner makes the point that we live in an over-verbalized civilization. Words have become more real than the things they signify and we need to return to the solid earth of direct experience because we are drowning in meaningless word tonnage.

"For those who have accepted the reality of change, the need for endless learning and trying is a way of living, a way of thinking, a way of being awake and ready. "Life isn't a train ride where you choose your destination, pay your fare and settle back for a nap. "It's a cycle ride over uncertain terrain, with you in the driver's seat, constantly correcting your balance and determining the direction of progress. "It's dfficult, sometimes profoundly painful."

For those who are able to achieve self-renewal, Gardner believes they will also develop a more realistic survival view of the world: "Sensible people will understand that there will never be a time when we are not in imminent danger. Cruelty, violence, brutality will be held in leash only by unresting effort--if held in leash at all. "Sloth, indulgence, smugness, torpor begotten of ease and flabbiness begotten of security will always lurk in wait." No society will ever solve the issue of the individual versus the organization. "No society will ever discover how to become civilized without running the risk of becoming overcivilized."

This is a profoundly thoughtful, penetrating piece on what makes you tick. Well worth your time.

Plumbers are just as important as our philosophers--that's the message of this book. If we don't respect both--neither our theories nor our pipes will hold any water. Gardner does not oversimplify education and say that every student should go to college: he only demands that you choose your own path and go at it full tilt. Excellence is the only thing that Gardner demands. This book is a call for Americans to be great: Americans love to be great, Gardner argues. They just need the leadership to inspire them.

I have read the most excellent first edition and this 2nd, too. These books pose interesting questions for the next generation of "Teachers" and the Educators that we spend money to support. The first edition has a preface or introduction that should be re-printed so that the Modern Reader can compare the two. This should be Required Reading in High School!!!

This book packs alot of punch for it's conciseness (155 pages of text).

Gardner starts off with observations of some important tensions in the American value system, namely between a society in which one's rewards are strictly related to one's performance versus a society where equality of results is more valued; the conflict between freedom and equality.

Next, there is a discussion of education. "Education as a Sorting Out Process" is the title of one of the chapters. There is a discussion of how standardized tests and various degrees are used as markers of talent and merit. Gardner puts forth the controversial opinion, which I agree with, that too many people in our country go to college because they feel like it is the only path that is truly respected and valued in our culture (he wrote this in 1984 so I think this applies even more so to today). The idea is that college is only one kind of education, an academic one. But some people are more suited to technical or vocational education or simply to learn by working, rather than manipulating abstract symbols, composing essays, etc... Life and society require all kinds of different skills and math, science, literature, and other intellectual skills are just one dimension.

Third, there is a discussion of the many forms of excellence (related to the many kinds of education discussed previously). In our society, we value scientists and Phds and CEOs but there are excellent plumbers, excellent gardeners, excellent teachers, excellent volunteers, excellent parents, others who are excellent and contribute in big ways but are not given the same prestige in our society. He talks about continueing to learn through one's life; and not just academic, book learning, but learning about oneself, about relationships, about managing one's life, taking care of the ordinary business of life, developing character.

Lastly, there is a discussion of excellence and leadership in the context of the big organizations (government, large corporations, small companies) that most of us find ourselves working in day to day. He talks about expecting alot from people, holding them up to high standards and making them feel like they can make a difference.

Overall, this is a book about HIGH STANDARDS. It is about maintaining high standards in the activities we choose to pursue and thus contacting what is deepest and best in human beings: our desire to grow, develop, and be the best we can possibly be, as individuals and together as a society. As Socrates said to Bill and Ted, "Be Excellent to Each Other".

The book READY FOR THE REAL WORLD is an excellent preparation tool for college seniors. The book offers information in career planning, personal life, community responsibilities, financial planning, and alum activities.

Written in an easy-to-read style, READY FOR THE REAL WORLD covers most of the elements that college seniors must consider from the more practical aspect of the budgeting of finances to the often neglected consideration of psychological changes that take place as one goes from the rather protected status of a student to that as a job applicant and employee.

This book is an excellent one for college classes which are offered at the end of the senior year to help prepare students for life after college, but would also be helpful to individuals who are seriously thinking about the transition from college to the "real world."

The book includes checklists and activities that allow readers to assess their status financially, psychologically, and personally. I highly recommend this book.